St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-08-13

itics and the law.
Without individiousness, it may be
asserted that in the order named Doug
las, Sumner, Fessenden, Hale, Johnson,
Foot, Wade and Chandler were the
leading minds of the senatorial body of
| that period. In oratory Douglas led the
van, and his premature death at Chicago
on June 3, 1861, at the comparatively
| early age Of forty-eight years, deprived
! the country of one of it's most patriotic
citizens and accomplished statesmen. He
had but barely attained his majority when
he was chosen attorney general of Hi
nois, and was only twenty-eight when
elected judge of the Supreme Court of
that State. Two years later he was re-
turned to Congress, serving four years in
the House prior to his promotion to the
Senate, to which body he was chosen
for three successive terms.
During Mr.. Douglas first term in the
Senate he became very careless in his
dress; to such extent as to evoke unfa-
vOrable comment at Washington and
elsewhere His attire was wholly ne
! elected, of the shabbiest and ill-titting
order, and the bow-knot of his cravat was
oftener observed under his left ear than
in its proper place. This condition,
| however, was not the result of eccen-
tricity, but of entire Indifference to per-
sonal adornment, and he paid no atten-
ton whatever to the maxim that dress
| has corresponding influence upon adj
dress" He was then a widower, but
when he married his second wife, Miss
| Cults, the accomplished and beautiful
| daughter of James Madison Cults, second
comptroller of the treasury, and grand
| daughter of the distinguished Richard
Cults, of Massachusetts, the special
friend of Presidents jefferson, Madison
and Monroe, Senator Douglas was i'm
mediately given the very best of groom
ing, and under the constant care and
auspices of his wife, complete meta
morphose of attire was accomplished and
maintained.
No one was more careful of dress than
| Charles Sumner, and hence many i'll
natured criticisms were commonly offered
upon his alleged "dandyism." The two
! figures of Douglas and Sumner were the
extreme of contrast, Mr.. Douglas being
short and "stubby," while Mr.. Sumner
was tall and gracefully proportional.
Mr.. Douglas features were small and his
| complexion dark; the features Of Mr..
| Sumner were large and his complexion
| light and ruddy. While Mr. Douglas
was not an ugly man, he could not be
classed as handsome; per contra, MIR.
| Sumner was certainly fine looking and
of distinguished presence. Mr.. Douglas,
however, cared nothing for appearances,
| but Mr.. Sumner never WaVered in his al
| legiance and devotion to the demands OF
| personal adornment.
| Mr. Douglas had neither conception Of
nor desire for scenic effects.sa He relied
for precedence wholly upon the superior
| force of oratory and his almost match
| less powers in running debate. MIR.
Sumner believed In the aesthetics, and
was a devotee to form, space and atti
tude, as well of language and of pres
ence. With him all the accompani-
ments were imperatively necessary, and
| his public and private methods were as
orderly as well-serVed menu, from the
bivalvular alpha to the omega of the
walnuts and the wine.
Senators Wade and Chandler were fair
samples of the rough diamond, who paid
little heed to personal adornment, while
| Senators Fessenden and Hale were
especially proper in their attire. 1t is
related that about the period when hos
tilities between the North and South
were closed Ben Wade, as he was famil
iarly known, visited Nashville, Tenn,
and for the first time in his life sampled
what is known as "Robertson-county"
whiskey, a distillation of corn-juice Pc
culiar to that locality, alleged to be en-
tirely pure, because it is not fermented
by substances other than its own spent
beer" Mr.. Wade had often given ear to
panegyrics upon the superiority of this
strain of whisEey, but had never tasted
the ambrosia. The consequences of this
indulgence may be better imagined than
described, especially by those familiar
with Mr.. Wade's personal habits.
The fiery Ohio senator succumbed to
the insidious but no less agreeable in
f1uence of Robertson county" but as no
headache or disagreeable effects ensued
on the 'inglorious next morning." he
pronounced it absolutely the best
whiskey he had ever sampled. Some
little time subsequent to this episode,
personal friend, resident at Nashville,
obtained a five-gallon keg of Robertson
county," distilled before the war and
improved by age, and sent the priceless
treasure by express to Washington di-
rected to Senator Wade, coupled with
the inquiry whether he was still of
opinion that it was the best whiskey ex-
tant. ben w aue reply was CuardAeI-
istic and ran about as follows
Dear Friend: have received the keg of
Robertson county" whiskey. 1t is nectar,
and am still of opinion that it is the best
whiskey made l have placed the keg on
tap in my committee room, will share its
contents with my friends of the Senate, and
remind them from whom it comes. Crate
fully your friend, BEN F. WADE.
A keg Of similar proportions and emf
nence of contents was shortly thereafter
sent by the same gentleman to Schuyler
Colfax, then Speaker of the House, in ig-
norance, however, of the fact that Mr..
Colfax was a pronounced 'teetotaler"
Contradistinguished from the warm
terms of Ben Wade's letter Mr. Colfax
acknowledged as follows:
Sir: You made great mistake sending
me keg Of whiskey, as | and my family are
strictly temperate and "teetotalers:" How
ever, presume l must take the will for the
deed. Yours, &C.,
SCHUYLER CoLFAx.
The gentleman, who had been school
mate of Mr.. Colfax, replied as follows:
Dear Co!fa1: I ought to have remembered
that you were teetotaler, and therefore, as
DO aIp n